Science and data

New Zealand land use map

This page provides information on the LUCAS New Zealand Land Use Map which organisations can use to monitor changes in their own land management practices. It contains a link to the MfE Data Service where the map can be downloaded.

Download the land use map

The latest version of the LUCAS New Zealand Land Use Map (LUM) is available free for download (registration required) with Creative Commons licensing from the MfE Data Service. It is available in a variety of GIS file formats.

Map description

The LUM includes 12 land-use classes and three maps nominally dated at 1 January 1990, 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012 (known as '1990', '2008' and '2012').

To display the 2012 map, symbolise the LUC_NAME field.

To display the 2008 map, symbolise the IMPR_LUC_N field.

To display the 1990 map, symbolise the PREV_LUC_N field.

Using the map

Land-use maps are produced to keep track of land-use change, especially change in forests. It is strongly recommended that the following publication is referred to when assessing the appropriateness of the LUM for other purposes.